is not to put it off for a later date!
Our William Ashley’s china arrived yesterday via Purolator.
We were really excited to unpack it until we discovered how it was packed…
In a hay stack. :( We filled 4 garbage bags of this stuff!
Our supervisor:
It took us 2 hours to unpack everything, check it, count it, and then clean up the huge mess!
While we were unpacking, we had the when are we going to use it discussion.
You may remember my Use Your Good Towels rant a couple months ago.
We already decided that our china would indeed be reserved for special occasions. But we aren’t going to limit its’ use to holidays only. For example, if we have a nice dinner together, we might use the china. (We’re crazy like that!).
However, we also got some stainless steel cutlery sets that we are in love with. And we started a hot debate about what they would be used for.
I said I wanted to use them on a daily basis, while Eric disagreed and said we should keep the cutlery for special occasions only.
Then I got thinking about my Good Towel post.
And I was like, ‘Why shouldn’t we use our gorgeous cutlery right now? We have been using mismatched hand me downs since university (it is honestly horrid what we use!!!). And we have been waiting for so long to have a nice set.’
But Eric’s reply was that it would no longer be special if we used it everyday.
So I pulled out the what if I died card with a big grin on my face, ‘What if I died next month and you had to live with the fact that I never did get to use the cutlery I loved so much?’
Eric, grinning back, ‘Well I would march that over-priced cutlery right back to William Ashley’s and get my money back!’
Quite cheeky isn’t he? ;) We had a good laugh.
So the debate goes on.
What do you think? Should nice cutlery be saved for special use or do you take the ‘you only live once’ approach with it?
I have always, always been a ‘save special things for special use’ kind of person. But more and more I am starting to toss that idea out the window. So many times I have not used things that make me happy because I am scared of ruining it. Would it really be that big of a deal if we did accidentally ruin a set? Probably not. They were expensive but not that expensive that we couldn’t replace it at some point down the road.
I say use it. We’ve been using our good towels for months now and have never looked back! They make me happy every single day. The only drawback I see with using it is that it has to be hand washed (well, it says it is dish washer safe but I wouldn’t trust it). I hate hand washing dishes, so that might be a pain in the butt. Decisions, decisions…
Better three hours too soon, than one minute too late. ~William Shakespeare
Use it! You can never tell the future but at least you know how you can affect the present. It’s nice to use good cutlery when eating, and since you have the means to I say why not?
Also, think about this – you guys will most likely have kids eventually, and when they come around you probably won’t be using the nice cutlery for a while. Better to use it now while you still can!
No question, use it. But, I am not a fan of having a ton of stuff that I rarely or never use. If it is for “display only” then it doesn’t belong in my house, just seems wasteful!
Use it!! I’ve saved so many nice things for a “special occasion” only miss out on enjoying them. Now I think that every day we wake up is a special occasion. If anything, schedule a “date night” once a week and break out the china for a special dinner. Celebrating your marriage is always reason enough. :)
Use it, and then go buy something else even fancier for the “special” occasions! Hee hee!!
Courtney
Adventures in Tri-ing
Yeah, I say use it! Why do you have a nice set of cutlery only to use it a couple times a year. I think the nice cutlery should be for everyday… you can always get a second pair of even nicer cutlery for those really special times.
I’m always a save it for a special occasion type of girl too… but I’m also starting to change my mind. Life’s to short to not use your nice towels and cutlery.
Use it! You take so much care to make your food georgous, nice plates will make it even better and more enjoyable! :-)
Use it! My boyfriend has a gorgeous set of cutlery that we use every day, but unfortunately he says they can’t go in the dishwasher (I’m pretty sure that it can, but he thinks they’ll get ruined) so we hand wash them. We also bought some china last year, and we do use it for “special dinners”; we don’t save it for any such occasion as we would normally dine out. :)
Use it and put it in the dishwasher. If it says it’s dishwasher safe, it is dishwasher safe. Don’t worry about it.
Use it!!! We registered for a white set of china (Gordon Ramsey) and then salad plates and big charger plates from a fancier set of china, so we use the white stuff every day, and mix the fancier non-dishwasher safe stuff for special meals.
Also, I noticed that you have some china with what looks like platinum around the edge.. watch out for it in the dishwasher, our Wm Ashley salesperson said that it can wear off.
We only get one life to live, so I say use everything that you just got, really if you think about it everyday is a special occasion=)
Hey Angela! I just read that you’re loving the Maca Powder you’ve been having and I was just wondering what you’ve been finding it’s doing for you? I took Maca for a couple months a while back and I really didn’t find it did much for me..? Maybe I just wasn’t noticing it? Thanks!
I remember being a little girl and my mom had this really pretty perfume that she gave me because I loved it so much. I put it in my room and never once used it, and vowed that I would wear it on my high school graduation. Well, one day in probably grade 7 or 8 I found that it had gone bad. I had never used it.
I would definitely use it at least once a week…for me it would be Sunday dinner. I think it’s pointless to have “nice” things and only enjoy them a few times a year.
I used to be a ‘save for a special occasion’ kind of girl, but now I say go for it! Every meal together should be a special occasion with eachother right?! It would be a shame to only get to enjoy those nice dishes a couple times a year.
i say USE IT AAAND trust the dishwasher. life is too short!
If you really don’t trust the dishwasher and insist on hand washing them, I’d vote for special occasions. But, if you don’t mind hand washing them then have at it. I’d use them everyday. After all, they were bought to be used… not to look pretty in a drawer, right?
And I’m going back and reading your towel post because you have peaked my interest.
I say use it!! Why not? I read someone quote their grandmother and she said she always set the table “as if the president was coming.” How cute! :)
I have really nice stainless steel cutlery, and we use it every day (I also wash it in the dishwasher) and I’m so glad we use it!
Of course, I also have gorgeous wine glasses that I bought at the Waterford plant in Ireland that I save for “special occasions”, and we don’t have China because my husband is in the military and I don’t trust the government to move it w/out breaking it… so I guess I have no consistency when it comes to that :)
What gorgeous china! I say go ahead and start using the flatware :-) Life is far too short.
~Laura
Backstage Pass to Health & Happiness
LauraMKE.blogspot.com
I went to read your Good Towels post that I hadn’t read before, and something broke my heart. Right there, in the middle of that post, you write “Don’t wait until next month, next year, [b]or when you are 40[/b] to do something you WANT to do.”
I was devastated to find out that 40 is the cut-off age for you too! It seems that everyone feels 40 is the age where you “die” a little, if not completely. I find it sad that as women strive to feel good in their skin, 40 is still the age where it’s too late to enjoy life. People are so fearful of age nowadays, so ashamed of growing old. Wrinkles used to signify wisdom, now they signify expiration date.
Where I come from, we say life starts at 40. For one, I’m looking forward to it. I have a lot more new cutlery to buy and use before and after 40. So I think you should use your cutlery now, and get another when you turn 40. A better one ;)